


on the petals of a wild flower

by merthurlin



Category: Kingdom Hearts, xxxHoLic
Genre: Gen, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merthurlin/pseuds/merthurlin
Summary: There is a place people go to, when they have a wish - even if they don't know they have one. After the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora meets the space-time witch.





	on the petals of a wild flower

When Sora next opens his eyes, he is somewhere  _ else _ . He isn’t sure why he is surprised by that: it’s how it always seems to go, these days. He would close his eyes in one world and awaken in the next, and rarely does he have any control over what that next world is. And besides, this time he wanted to be somewhere else. Needed to, really. There was no other way but to move forward.

But this - this is somewhere  _ else _ . An old house, nestled between towering glass buildings, and for a second he thinks he is in New Fransokyo, except he immediately knows that he isn’t. This is somewhere  _ else _ , after all. A soft breeze plays with his hair, and beautiful pink flowers get carried by it, dispersing around him. There is a distant sounds of bells, and an even more distant sound of rushing water, and the most distant sound is of nothing and everything at once. The closest Sora ever felt anything like this was in Yen Sid’s tower, with its neverending staircases and doors that lead nowhere and everywhere, but he can still tell that this place - wherever and whatever it was - was much,  _ much  _ older. Much more powerful.

“A customer! A customer!” Two chipper voices greet him, and he watches in bemusement as two children - twins? - come dashing towards him, stopping only right before the threshold. “A customer for the mistress!”

“Is this… a shop?” he asks, curious. It doesn’t really look like one. Not like any of the shops on the island, bright and welcoming, or the shops in other worlds he has visited - each unique and fun and nothing at all like this. 

“I’m Maru!” says the one on the left, ignoring his question. “And I’m Moro!” says the one on the right, and Sora can’t help but smile at them, even if something inside him recoils at their presence. “Hi! I’m Sora!” he introduces himself. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Sora! Sora!” they repeat in unison, grinning and dancing around him. “Sora is here for the mistress!”

“Eh?” Sora frowns in confusion, scratching at his cheek. “I’m not really sure why I’m here, though. I don’t know any mistresses…”

Each of the girls grabs one of his arms, and the two start dragging him deeper inside the property. “The mistress is the mistress!” says Maru. “The mistress is the mistress!” says Moro. “And Sora is here for the mistress!” they say together, as they now enter the building properly. The inside matches the outside, made of old wood, intricate designs and decorations dotting the paper walls. Sora has never seen anything like it, and like anything new he found on his journeys, he immediately falls in love with it, as it slots its way in his heart. He follows the girls’ instructions to take off his shoes at the entrance, and they continue their way deeper inside the building, passing numerous doors and hallways until they find themselves in front of a large paper door decorated with butterflies. Sora itches to take out his gummi phone and take a picture - surely Namine would appreciate seeing such beautiful art! - but it was lost during the final battle and besides, it would probably be rude. Maybe he can ask to take a picture later.

With a secretive smile, Maru and Moro leave his side and open the doors, revealing a large room dominated by a reclining figure. It takes Sora a second to make out the details due to the large trails of smoke, but he eventually focuses on the woman lying on the sofa, miles of fabric spilling across her and the floor. She is smoking a pipe, he sees, the source of all the smoke in the room, and he is sure it would have been a very dramatic moment has he not immediately started coughing as soon as he inhaled some of it.

“Sora is choking! Sora is choking!” Maru and Moro exclaim, running into the room. “Mistress!”

“Ah, I should have figured. The keyblade always chooses such annoyingly pure hearts,” the woman sighs, and forlornly sets her pipe down, extinguishing it. “Maru, Moro, take him to the garden, then. Some fresh air would do him some good. And let Watanuki know to bring out some sake. Something good! If I can’t smoke I should at least be allowed to drink.”

The twins cheer, and once again they grab Sora, who can’t even find the spare breath to object. “The garden, the garden!” Moro chants. “Sora will be fine in the garden!” Maru consoles, and off they go, once again passing by rooms and hallways. Sora is breathing easier, but he is so incredibly confused.

“That was your mistress?” he questions, craning his head around to look at everything they were going past. 

“Yes!” Maru answers. “But Sora is too pure for the smoke!”

“Too pure, too pure!” Moro repeats. They are strange, those twins, but funny too, and Sora grins at them. 

“She seems nice!”

“Very nice!” Maru agrees. “We’re here, the gardens!” and they were, indeed - a beautifully strange garden for a beautifully strange house. There were more of those trees with the pink flowers here, but the breeze is more muted, and Sora takes in a few deep breaths, closing his eyes to enjoy the sun shining above. Maru and Moro go to “bother Watanuki” - whoever that was - and Sora finds himself alone for the first time in a couple of months. It’s been busy, after all, finding the power of waking and preparing for the final battle, trying to figure out what Xehanort and the organization were planning and worrying, always worrying, about Riku and Kairi and Donald and Goofy; about finding a body for Roxas and rescuing Aqua and unlocking Ventus’ heart; about not stopping and not failing, can’t let anyone down, can’t do it on your own but can’t let anyone get hurt instead. 

Here, in this somewhere  _ else -  _ it all feels so very far away.

“You have a wish,” a voice says besides him, and he opens his eyes to see the beautiful woman from before looking at him, a mysterious smile on her face.

“I do?” Sora asks, frowning.

“You would not be here if you didn’t,” she says, still smiling. “This is a wish shop, after all.”

“Maru and Moro did say it was a shop…” Sora nods, before startling. “Oh, I’m Sora, by the way! I guess it was kind of rude of me to just start coughing like that, sorry!”

The woman laughs, before sitting on the wood deck, petting the spot next to her in invitation. “I’ve known your name for a very long time.”

“You have?” Sora’s eyes widen as he sits down next to her. “How come?”

“I know all the names of the keyblade masters, after all. I would not be very good at my job if I didn’t.” She leans her face on her hand, peering at him. “Usually they don’t come to me, however.”

Sora scrunches his face. “I didn’t really mean to? I don’t know how I came here, I’m sorry.”

“You’re here because you have a wish,” she repeats. “After all, there is no such thing as coincidence, only hitsuzen - A naturally fore-ordained event. A state in which all other outcomes are impossible.”

“A wish, huh…” Sora wonders, looking at the sky. “I’m actually looking for someone. A friend. We were in the middle of a big fight, but she disappeared, and I don’t know where. I need to save her.”

“Is that your wish?” she asks.

“It must be, right?” he asks right back, looking back at her. She still has the same mysterious smile she greeted him with, and he abruptly realizes he still does not know her name. “It’s why I wanted to go to another world in the first place.”

“You traveled across worlds?!” a new voice interrupts them, and Sora twists around to look behind them. There is a boy there, maybe a bit older than Sora,  _ definitely  _ taller than him, holding two bottles with one hand and a food tray with the other. He is staring at Sora with astonishment clear on his face.

“Yes?” Sora answers. “Is that bad?”

“But, Yuuko-san, I thought…” the boy trails off, and Sora is going to assume that is the name of the woman sitting next to him. Honestly, he is a bit embarrassed he didn’t ask for her name yet - it was terribly rude of him! Goofy taught him better than that.

“Ah,” Yuuko nods, lifting her face from her hand and looking at the boy as well. “Sora here is a bit of a different case.”

“Oh…” the boy falls silent for a moment before remembering himself. “Oh, sorry! That was very rude of me to interrupt like that. I’m Watanuki Kimihiro.”

“Hi Watanuki! I’m Sora!” Sora smiles at him. There is something really bright about this Watanuki, something calming and safe, and he is reminded so strongly of Kairi that for a second he can’t even breath. 

Watanuki doesn’t seem to notice as he kneels down beside them, placing the bottles and the tray. “Now, Yuuko-san, like we agreed, only two bottles today!”

“Watanuki is such a bully!” and suddenly Sora notices the thing riding on Watanuki’s shoulder as it jumps to the floor. It is round and black and looks a bit like a dream eater, only dream eaters don’t talk, and they definitely don’t drink alcohol like this thing - person? - is doing. 

“A deal is a deal!” Watanuki snaps back, before he turns to Sora with a smile. “You look a bit too young to drink, but I hope you like those imagawayaki I made, they should still be warm.” Sora has no idea what they were, but the confectories on the tray look delicious, and Sora immediately grabs one and pops in into his mouth. And it  _ is  _ delicious, as good as one of Little Chef’s creations if not better. Sora doesn’t know how to explain it, but it tastes a bit like how Watanuki feels - a bit warm, a bit soft, sweet with a slight hint of salt. 

“Watanuki, this is so good!” he says as soon as he finishes eating, only barely stopping himself from licking his fingers. “Can I have the recipe? I have a friend with his own restaurant and I think he would love to try something new!”

Watanuki blushes slightly. “Oh, really, it’s nothing special! But of course I’ll be happy to give you the recipe! Do you cook as well?”

“Little Chef has been teaching me,” Sora nods. “I still mess up sometimes but I think I’m doing pretty well!”

“Little chef…?” Watanuki mutters, before shaking his head. “I’m sure you’re very good! Maybe we can cook together someday.”

Sora grins. It was so good to make friends again. Something inside him is joyful, after all the horrible things that happened in the Keyblade Graveyard. Seeing Watanuki smile, making a promise with a friend - Sora feels like himself again. 

“Ahem,” Yuuko coughs next to them, and sheepishly they both turn to her, the two of them momentarily forgetting she was even there. The black thing is almost done with one bottle.

“Ah, sorry Yuuko-san, I got a bit carried away,” Watanuki apologizes. He makes as if to stand up, but Yuuko stops him with a wave of her hand. “Yuuko-san?”

“Stay, stay! You haven’t met a Keyblade Master before, have you?”

“Mokona has!” the black thing pipes up. “Only once though!”

“Your name is Mokona?” Sora asks. “Are you a dream eater?”

“Mokona is Mokona!” the thing - Mokona - jumps at Sora, settling in his lap. “Mokona loves Keyblade Masters!”

Sora smiles at him. “I’m not really a Keyblade Master though - I failed the Mastery Exam. My friend Riku though - “

“Bah,” Yuuko cut him off, making a face. “Yen Sid is a fool. Being a Master is about so much more than any silly little exam.”

“You know Yen Sid?” Sora stares at her. He has never met anyone who knew Yen Sid who wasn’t part of their little group already, after all. He wonders if she has any embarrassing stories to share.

“Wait, wait,” Watanuki interrupts, looking lost. “What exactly is a Keyblade Master?”

“Guardians,” Yuuko says. “But also collectors. Destroyers, sometimes. Dreams, but also reality. Unbound by the laws governing space and time, but unable to exist without them. They wield powerful magics that can tear apart worlds, but they are also oh so vulnerable to their own powers, their own emotions. They are chosen, yet they also must choose - they are the beloved of fate and gods, but also their mortal enemies.”

There is silence for a moment. “Mostly, I just save princesses though,” Sora shrugs. “Sometimes princes too!”

“Right,” Watanuki says, still looking a bit confused. “And you travel worlds?”

“Yeah!” Sora answers enthusiastically. “I’ve been to so many worlds! They are all so different, but fun, and I have made loads of friends!”

“Has he met them?” Watanuki asks, and Sora stares at him confused until he realizes the question is for Yuuko.

“No,” she answers, her smile somehow more gentle when she looks at Watanuki. Sora can tell she loves him very much - he is good at seeing that sort of thing. “They walk different paths. The power of a Keyblade is not something that man could ever know about.”

Watanuki frowns. “They could probably use the help though. And Sakura-chan  _ is  _ a princess, so surely...”

“Is someone in trouble?” Sora asks. “I could help! This Sakura - is she a princess of light?”

Yuuko shakes her head. “The fate of those children must rest in their own hands. Even the princess - especially her. No one must interfere.” Her tone is resolute, and while Sora is stubborn - even worse than Riku! - he knows this is one force he cannot stand against.

Watanuki seems to understand the same, for he sighs. He looks a bit forlorn, and Sora feels a pang in his chest, that someone so good could look like this. “Maybe just tell me their names? That way if I ever meet them I can tell them you think about them! That will definitely make them feel happy.”

“Always such pure hearts…” Yuuko murmeres, but Watanuki definitely looks cheered up by it, as he says: “Well, there’s Sakura-chan - she’s a princess, and Syaoran-kun, they are from the same world, about your age! Also Fai-san and Kurogane-san.”

“And Mokona!” Mokona adds cheerfully, still sitting on Sora’s lap.

“But I thought you are Mokona?” Sora asks, confused, peering at him.

“Mokona is Mokona! And other Mokona is also Mokona! Other Mokona is white though,” Mokona says. “I miss them.”

“Well, I’ll definitely tell them that when I see them. And then they will be happy, and wherever you are, you will also be happy, right?” Sora smiles at Mokona. “Because your hearts are connected.”

“Right!” Mokona cheers, bouncing off of Sora and back towards the alcohol. “And until then - more sake!”

“More sake!” Yuuko cheers back, and the two clink their bottles together.

“How do you know that?” Watanuki asks. “That their hearts are connected, that if one person feels happiness than the other will too?”

“Well…” Sora smiles, gathering his legs below him and leaning back on the wall of the house. “In my travels, I met a lot of people. I made a lot of friends. Sometimes things were hard, and I was hurt, or someone I cared about was hurting. But no matter what, I always knew I wasn’t alone.”

“You don’t believe that,” was what Riku said, back in that awful moment in the Graveyard, but Sora wasn’t so sure he was right about it. Sora always knew - even back in the beginning, when he just got to Traverse Town and had no idea what was happening - that this power wasn’t meant for  _ him _ . It was only recently that he realized it was the power he got from Riku and from Ventus, the choices they both made leading to the Keyblade choosing him, but it was still not his power. It was the power of his bonds, his promises, the people he met and loved and laughed with, even the people he hurt and fought and hated. Without those bonds, he didn’t really know who he was.

He didn’t really know if he existed at all.

“Is that your wish?” 

He looks up at Yuuko, who is staring at him intently. Mokona falls silent next to her.

“My wish?”

“Earlier, you said you wished to find a certain someone. To save her.” Yuuko’s eyes are so piercing, and while Sora never hid from anything, he kind of wants to hide from her at that moment.

“I do.”

“And what if I tell you that she is safe? That she used her own power to save herself?”

“She did?!” Sora exclaims, grinning. “That’s great! She was training so hard after all.”

“Then what is your wish?” Yuuko persists, her eyes not relenting for even one moment.

Sora frowns. “I guess… to go back home? With Riku and Kairi, this time!”

“You have your own power to do so. If that was your wish, you would not have been here.” And all around them the wind picks up, spreading more of those pink flowers. It is only now that Sora realizes he can’t hear anything from beyond the fence, no signs of life around there, and he is abruptly reminded he is somewhere  _ else _ , after all.

“We… we defeated Xehanort,” he says, slowly. “The worlds have been restored. Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Aqua, Terra - everyone we lost came back. I saved Riku and the others after they fell. Riku is free of the darkness, and Kairi is back in safety. I don’t… I don’t know what else I could wish for.”

“All those people you mentioned… Those are your friends?” Watanuki asks, quietly.

“Yes,” Sora nods, even if sometimes the word “friend” doesn’t feel enough to encompass everything some of them mean for him. Everything Roxas and Xion are for him, parts of himself he will never get back and doesn’t want to. Everything Ventus is for him, the first decision he ever made before he even knew he was a person, when he was just a heart that wanted to help. Everything Kairi is for him, a best friend and a first crush and someone so impossibly strong she looked fate in the eye and said “not today.” Everything  _ Riku  _ is for him, a best friend and a rival and a protector, his very own dream eater, the person he was ready to spend an eternity in the darkness with.

“And I’m sure they care for you very much,” Watanuki continues, softly. “I think they would want you to wish something for yourself, and not for them.”

Sora’s breath gets caught in his throat and he stares at Watanuki, shocked. 

“I used to be the same.” Watanuki isn’t looking at him anymore, but away at the garden. “I was alone for a very long time, and I… forgot, that sometimes other people care about me, that it wasn’t one-sided. And because I forgot, I hurt my friends, and I forced them to make very difficult choices. So I made a promise, to myself, that I would never disregard what I want anymore. I would never ignore my own feelings, even when it hurts or makes me sad. Even if it makes other people sad. Because it would make them so much sadder if I didn’t make that promise.”

“It is a painful burden, to take on other people’s hurt.” Yuuko’s gaze isn’t piercing, this time, but weirdly sympathetic. Sora knew she was old from the moment he saw her, but it wasn’t until now that he fully appreciated everything that meant - decades and centuries of bonds and promises that pass her by. How much can one person remember? How much can one person forget, in all that time? “You take more, and more, and more, and eventually you drown. And even when you drown, you keep taking more, because you forgot how to do anything else.”

Sora… Sora doesn’t know what to say to that, if he can say anything to that. There is something so very painful in Watanuki’s words, but loving too. A lesson taught in blood and tears and sacrifice, the kind that Sora got taught over and over again. First when he lost his islands and Riku and Kairi, and again when he got Kairi back but not Riku, and again and again, every time he lost someone and found someone else and lost them too. And he has been stubborn, so very stubborn, hasn’t he? Because he kept on smiling, because “this ship runs on smiles” and he never wanted to be a burden, never wanted to be the reason everyone stopped striding forward.

But maybe. Maybe if Watanuki, who is so very bright and safe and warm, who was lonely once but will never be lonely again, says it’s okay. If Yuuko, who loves Watanuki, who is so very powerful and old and impossibly sad, says it’s okay. Maybe.

“Yuuko… I think I have a wish after all.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is ALL claire's fault, I never wrote a crossover in my LIFE before and this was the most self-indulgent think i could have written
> 
> I'm on twitter @gay_to_dawn


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